"Is sacramental anointing the same as last rites? ""Don't you have to have some kind of special gift to be part of the Church's healing ministry?"" ""Why am I sick? Is it God's punishment?"" ""Ever since I became sick, I don't feel like myself anymore."" If life is a journey, what happens when our way is obstructed by sickness or failing health? In Healing Touch and Saving Word, Linda Malia draws upon the rich theology of the Anglican tradition personified in the Episcopal Church's sacramental liturgies of healing. In easy-to-understand language, Healing Touch examines the theological foundations of the Episcopal Church's healing liturgies, from the first Book of Common Prayer to the most recent sacramental rites. Probing the dynamics of symbol and ritual, the complex relationship of sin and sickness, and the spiritual and psychological impact of every serious illness, the book explores the power of these graced encounters in enabling the faithful to draw new hope and renewed purpose out of the chaos and turmoil of illness and debility. Individuals struggling with life-changing illness and those who care for them--clergy and laity alike--are sure to find Healing Touch a helpful and thought-provoking resource. "
"Is sacramental anointing the same as last rites?" "Don't you have to have some kind of special gift to be part of the Church's healing ministry?" "Why am I sick? Is it God's punishment?" "Ever since I became sick, I don't feel like myself anymore." If life is a journey, what happens when our way is obstructed by sickness or failing health? In Healing Touch and Saving Word, Linda Malia draws upon the rich theology of the Anglican tradition personified in the Episcopal Church's sacramental liturgies of healing. In easy-to-understand language, Healing Touch examines the theological foundations of the Episcopal Church's healing liturgies, from the first Book of Common Prayer to the most recent sacramental rites. Probing the dynamics of symbol and ritual, the complex relationship of sin and sickness, and the spiritual and psychological impact of every serious illness, the book explores the power of these graced encounters in enabling the faithful to draw new hope and renewed purpose out of the chaos and turmoil of illness and debility. Individuals struggling with life-changing illness and those who care for them--clergy and laity alike--are sure to find Healing Touch a helpful and thought-provoking resource.
In this book the author explores some of the lesser known portions of The Book of Common Prayer and asks how they may become more useful and acceptable in today's modern church.
Tracing developments in sacramental theology over the past twenty-five years, this study explores a growing ecumenical dynamism in both the academic study of sacramentality and its centrality in pastoral applications. But how does ecumenical excitement in a renewed discovery of sacramental theology fit with different theologies of church and different pastoral beliefs and practices? How does the universality of academic accessibility in the form of an expansive ecumenical sharing of perspectives meet the particularities of pastoral reality and ecclesial polity? Arguing in favor of fruitful ecumenical conversation, this book also focuses on the crucial interaction of ecclesiology, liturgical practice, and sacramentality, which raises the need for a creative tension between the particularities of a given ecclesial system and the catholicity of Christian sacramentality. Using Anglican sacramental theologies and Anglicanism as vehicles of exploration, this study contributes to an overview of the state of the field of sacramental theology in the twenty-first century while challenging the assumption that one size fits all. In sacramental theology, as in other important areas of Christian life, unity in diversity may be the basis for authentic lived sacramentality.
Volume 31 Sermons 1816-1876 Charles Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) is one of the church’s most famous preachers and Christianity’s foremost prolific writers. Called the “Prince of Preachers,” he was one of England's most notable ministers for most of the second half of the nineteenth century, and he still remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations today. His sermons have spread all over the world, and his many printed works have been cherished classics for decades. In his lifetime, Spurgeon preached to more than 10 million people, often up to ten times each week. He was the pastor of the congregation of the New Park Street Chapel (later the Metropolitan Tabernacle) in London for 38 years. He was an inexhaustible author of various kinds of works including sermons, commentaries, an autobiography, as well as books on prayer, devotionals, magazines, poetry, hymns and more. Spurgeon was known to produce powerful sermons of penetrating thought and divine inspiration, and his oratory and writing skills held his audiences spellbound. Many Christians have discovered Spurgeon's messages to be among the best in Christian literature. Edward Walford wrote in Old and New London: Volume 6 (1878) quoting an article from the Times regarding one of Spurgeon’s meetings at Surrey: “Fancy a congregation consisting of 10,000 souls, streaming into the hall, mounting the galleries, humming, buzzing, and swarming—a mighty hive of bees—eager to secure at first the best places, and, at last, any place at all. After waiting more than half an hour—for if you wish to have a seat you must be there at least that space of time in advance—Mr. Spurgeon ascended his tribune. To the hum, and rush, and trampling of men, succeeded a low, concentrated thrill and murmur of devotion, which seemed to run at once, like an electric current, through the breast of every one present, and by this magnetic chain the preacher held us fast bound for about two hours. It is not my purpose to give a summary of his discourse. It is enough to say of his voice, that its power and volume are sufficient to reach every one in that vast assembly; of his language, that it is neither high-flown nor homely; of his style, that it is at times familiar, at times declamatory, but always happy, and often eloquent; of his doctrine, that neither the 'Calvinist' nor the 'Baptist' appears in the forefront of the battle which is waged by Mr. Spurgeon with relentless animosity, and with Gospel weapons, against irreligion, cant, hypocrisy, pride, and those secret bosom-sins which so easily beset a man in daily life; and to sum up all in a word, it is enough to say of the man himself, that he impresses you with a perfect conviction of his sincerity.” More than a hundred years after his death, Charles Spurgeon’s legacy continues to effectively inspire the church around the world. For this reason, Delmarva Publications has chosen to publish the complete works of Charles Spurgeon.
Everyone in this lifetime has bled in one or more areas of life: be it physical, emotional, or spiritual. Many have been able to stop these bleedings, but for most, the bleedings persist to the point of limiting them from living their full potential and thereby fulfil destiny. This book draws inspiration from the Woman with the issue of blood in the Bible and sets out principles by which one can bring a stop to any bleeding area in life. As you immerse yourself in the reading of the content of this insightful book, you will know the various areas of life where you can bleed and learn how to stop the bleeding in these areas by touching Jesus. You will learn how to touch Jesus in this dispensation that He is not physically present, by touching the Word of God. There is no need for you to bleed anymore in any area of your life. You do not have to spend your life savings to stop any form of bleeding in your life. Jesus paid it all on the cross. If you can touch the Lord Jesus by touching His Word, in other words, BELIEVE His Word and ACT on the WORD, then, THE BLEEDING will stop. Chew the content of this book and see every bleeding in your life stop, to the glory of God.
In Care-full Preaching, G. Lee Ramsey, Jr., offers a new vision for how sermons can energize all members of a congregation to care for one another. Using fresh images and sermons from Fred Craddock, James Forbes, Gina Stewart, Barbara Brown Taylor, and himself, Ramsey demonstrates in practical ways how sermons can create a caring community.
When Jesus ministered, he often used touch. Yet this human act makes many people uneasy. In this helpful book, Zach Thomas provides fresh perspectives on the practical meanings of touch for the faith community. He criticizes the church for its mind/body split and suggests a more wholesome path to using healing touch.
Hearts changed...Bodies healed...Lives saved In A Healing Touch, Melanie Hemry relates many experiences of miracles as a result of prayer. Hemry learned to hear and recognize God’s voice and shares how God healed a brain-dead judge, spoke to her in dreams of warning, and caused her to “happen” to be in the right place at the right time to save lives. As an ICU nurse, she risked her career at times by dramatically contravening doctors’ instructions in order to save her patients from potentially deadly malpractice. This book will transform the way you pray. You will enter into a new dimension of faith, a deeper revelation of God's love, and a renewed understanding that your prayers can truly move the hand of God.
